I'll Protect You
by Shakespeare's Lemonade
Summary: Meg shows up at the convenience store, intent on keeping a promise. Set after 9.06, AU, Megstiel, oneshot.


I'll Protect You

Rating: T for some suggestive material

Genre: Romance/Angst

Summary: Meg shows up at the convenience store, intent on keeping a promise.

A/N: I wrote this a while back when Castiel was still working at the gas station, so this is set sometime after 9.06 and before 9.09. Obviously, it's quite AU because we all know Meg didn't come back. Still, there could be hope. Also, this is not my usual style at all, so I'm happy to accept any criticism because I would like to do more Castiel/Meg stuff if I can get the right feel for it.

Pairings: Castiel/Meg

**~oOo~**

The door chime rings, stirring the long silence that had settled over the store that afternoon. Castiel turns from stocking the shelves behind the counter to see a familiar face. One he thought he'd never see again.

"Meg?" he says, hearing the coating of disbelief in his own voice.

She smiles that cocky smile and walks up to the counter. "Miss me?" she asks.

He's not sure what she means by that, but it doesn't change his answer. "Yes," he says.

Meg's smirk turns a bit more sincere. "Yeah, well, crawling outta Hell's no picnic. But I see you haven't had the best time either... Steve?"

Castiel looks down at the name tag on his vest. "I've realized that neither my own name nor your strange nickname is particularly common. How did you find me, anyway?"

"You're warded against angels. Not demons. Smart move, there."

"Why did you come?" Unlike his conversations with humans, Castiel knows he can be blunt with Meg. She understands.

But she looks a little... hurt? "We had a deal, didn't we?" She raises her eyebrows and purses her lips slightly.

Castiel remembers. "But you didn't survive."

Meg shrugged. "I didn't get obliterated or whatever, so technically, you could say I'm still alive."

"So... you want to..." He doesn't even know how to talk about this with her.

The smirk is back. "More than that," she says. "You were my cause, Clarence-Steve."

"I prefer Castiel. Or Cas."

"Figures."

Yes, he would prefer the name Dean gave him.

"Point is," Meg goes on, "I got nothing outside of you in this whole wide world. Human as you are, I figured you could use a little backup, what with your brave protectors nowhere to be found."

"You want to... protect me?"

"Amongst other things." Her words are dripping with suggestiveness.

He knows he needs it. Castiel is not stupid, though his human mind is slower than he would like it to be. He is aware of the danger. And he is lonely. Is that enough?

"My shift ends in an hour," he says, unable to think of anything profound to say now that he's faced with the prospect of being with Meg. It had always been a silly fancy, nothing serious. But he doesn't want her to leave, maybe to never come back. He wants to know what it's like to be with someone he can trust, strange as it sounds.

Meg promises to pick him up then, and Castiel isn't above wondering what will happen next. He knows what she has in mind. He also knows it won't be like the last time. Because this is intentional, and he knows Meg.

True to her word, she shows up an hour later, driving a fancy new sports car. Castiel tries not to wonder where she got it. She drives him home to the tiny apartment he finally got around to renting. As they walk inside, it doesn't feel any different than entering a building with any other person. She doesn't walk slowly or give him coy looks. She seems just like herself.

"I forgot the pizza," Meg says as Castiel opens the door.

He shrugs, holding it open for her. "That's all right. I don't really like pizza, anyway."

"What kind of human are you?" She gives him a mock expression of horror as they go inside.

"Not a very good one." He means that.

Meg stands in the entryway, looking back at Castiel as he pushes the door closed behind him. They are only two steps away from each other, and it's easy for him to close the distance, but somehow he doesn't know how he got here. He kisses her, which surprises him, and her response is even more shocking.

He had expected her to be all fire and passion and violence, but Meg is anything but. She stands in one spot as if her feet are nailed to the floor. She doesn't push him back against the door or pull at his clothes. She only stands there, and kisses him back with her hands gently brushing the sides of his face.

Castiel pulls back and looks into her wide eyes. But they aren't Meg's eyes. They are the eyes of a dead girl whose body Meg inhabits.

"I can't see your face anymore," Castiel whispers, and saying it out loud feels like getting hit by a bus.

Meg looks up at him, a mix of confusion and resignation written in her expression. "My hideous, demon face. Thought you'd be happy about that."

Castiel shakes his head. "I was used to it."

"It's still there. Just like you're still that angel unicorn I died for."

And Castiel realizes something he should have known before. Meg loves him. She may not say it, in fact, he would surprised if she did. But the reality of it strikes him as something that shouldn't be. He didn't deserve it. She had stuck by him when nothing compelled her to stay except her own will. She could have done anything she wanted, but she chose to be with him.

The more he learns about free will, the more it confuses Castiel. The idea that a demon can choose to love an angel for no reason other than that she wants to was so impossible in his mind a short time ago.

Not anymore. Now he knows how human choice works, and he makes a choice of his own.

"I want you to stay," he says.

"That was the plan," Meg replies.

"I mean like you said. For good."

Maybe that's his way of saying he loves her too, Castiel isn't sure. He just knows that he needs her, and she wants to be with him just as much. Maybe she needs him a little bit too.


End file.
